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We’re Magnetic

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Magnetic is an experiential partner that crafts real world experiences that resonate across shared, earned and owned media for the world’s best brands and agencies.

We are a collective of experiential marketers from a diverse background, that are forged together to create a one-of-a-kind offering. Our team is comprised of not only production managers and creatives, but also engineers, architects and technical directors.

Under one roof, we combine the skills of an experiential agency and production shop. This enables us to offer solutions for brands and agencies to solve their creative and real-world problems.
And once in a while, on the rarest of occasions, we have a bit of fun in the process.

Brian Schultz

Founding Partner, Chief Experience Officer

Industry insurgent? Bam! Experiential marketing strategist with roots in live entertainment? Boom! Architect of multiple, highly successful integrated campaigns including Volkswagen’s “Das Auto”, Microsoft’s “I’m a PC”, and Coke Zero’s “Taste Infringement,” Bolthouse Farms’ “Baby Carrots”, Diageo America’s “Cuervo Games”, and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese’s “You Know You Love It”? Bada Bing, bada bang, bada boom boom crash! Not only is he an industry vet with a boatload of amazing experiential projects already under his belt, he also brings a youthful energy and unbridled enthusiasm to everything he works on.

Richard Rathe

Founding Partner, Chief Operations Officer

Ask Rick. How can we produce an 8 trailer truck activation in 2 weeks. He’ll know because he’s done that and more. Producing World’s Fair Pavilions from Australia to Portugal, touring shows for the Smithsonian that covered 150,000 square feet, creating interactive at Sony Wonder when the technology was just starting. He’s our leader, checking all facets from finance to execution, when he’s not playing with his cars.

Glenn Marck

Founding Partner, Chief Design Officer

With 24 years in the business, and degrees in industrial design from Pratt, architecture from University of Michigan, and Fine Arts from RISD, Glenn has the skills to pay all of Magnetic’s creative bills. When he’s not killing the game with his creative chops, he’s mellowing out with sports like tennis and sailing, where it becomes increasingly difficult for the rest of us to bother him.

Jessica Reznick

Managing Director

Joining Magnetic’s executive team in 2014, Jessica brought a wealth of experience and knowledge with her. She previously worked at cutting edge marketing agencies like Creative Artists Agency, CP+B and 72andSunny, bringing her expertise to brands like NIKE, DIAGEO, Chipotle, Burger King, Volkswagen, Coca Cola, and more. Her specialty? Having no specialty, and instead using all kinds of media to tell all kinds of brand stories in a focused and sharp way.

Gary Johnson

Chief Strategy Officer

Did Gary coin the phrase “experiential marketing?” Probably not, but he might have… Because even before experiential marketing had a name, Gary was charting non-traditional road maps to help brands like Pepsi, Nike, and Diageo create relevant and compelling experiences for their customers. And today, he’s doing the same and more for Magnetic, leading strategy across all new business opportunities and accounts.

Donna Cancel

Director of Production

Donna is a bulldog. Not actually, but fortunately she and bulldogs do share many qualities like tenacity, determination and courage. And while Donna probably would be ill-suited to be a house pet, you’ll never find an actual bulldog with 20 years experience managing over 800 trade shows, streamlining processes, solving design problems, developing cost analysis, and negotiating contracts. And if you do find a bulldog that can do that, please send them our way.

Emma Rathe

Business Director

The most amazing thing about Emma? She is the one person on the planet who actually enjoys building Ikea furniture. The second most amazing thing – her client service and production skills. During her time at Magnetic, and previously at Jack Russell, Emma has masterfully brought live events, brand activations, trade shows and pop-up shops to life, all while carving out enough free time to master both the Hemnes and Ektorp lines.

Sonia Aneja

Business Director

Sonia is originally hails from North Carolina, but has been in NYC for the past 11 years. Before joining Magnetic, she worked at a creative agency for 6.5 years, first focusing on communications/PR and then experiential marketing campaigns and events for global brands, followed by a one year stint at an Experiential Design Firm. She’s an avid fan of crosswords and always up for an impromptu road-trip, or planning a last minute trip to a beach in the Caribbean.

Doug Eckard

Director of Business Development

Doug wants to get all up in your business. Yes, it’s true. As director of new business at Magnetic, Doug works hard to understand everything possible about your business, to help us create solutions for you that are not only fun and engaging, but are also absolutely relevant to your goals. So in this case, letting him get all up in your business is a good thing.

Hall Carlough

Business Director

Hall started in fashion PR events. He once snuck a well known music artist into a fashion week show and even got to carry a ridiculously famous pop star off stage at her performance. He’s spent the years after rocking it in the advertising game. And now he runs a team of amazing Magnetic business leads and lives in Chelsea with his fiance Mike and their dog Eric.

Andrew Edell

Business Director EMEA

A New York native, Andrew studied at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His French is still a work in progress. He loves to escape his desk to get his hands dirty building over-the-top activations. His previous event experience ranges from music festivals and high-end galas, to mobile trucks and 24-hour warehouse parties. Andrew has shut down Times Square multiple times – legally.

Deborah Mamatz

Finance Supervisor

Prior to joining the Magnetic team, Deborah worked as an Account Executive for a military electronics company for over 25 years. If you have a Level 5 top secret clearance, call her and she can tell you more. Upon leaving the electronics field she thought she’d try her hand in accounting, and we’re lucky she did. Deborah has been with Magnetic since its inception and has been through it all. She is a numbers guru and quite frankly, the office wouldn’t run without her.

Patti Swanson

Finance Director

Patti originally hails from St. Louis, MO. Before joining us at Magnetic, Patti worked at Momentum, Deep Focus and more recently Optimist Inc. She has a minor in Film Studies and thinks Golden Girls is one of the best TV shows ever.

Steve Fazio

Operations Supervisor

Steve has been working to produce exhibits and experiences for 30 years. And after all that time running purchasing, trafficking, storage, inventory, and expedition of all projects, we’re confident he can handle whatever you can throw at him.

Daniel Gonzales

Business Director

Daniel has 11+ years of experience in the live events, music, and entertainment industries. He has experience developing and executing integrated experiential events and campaigns. Before joining Magnetic, Daniel worked at other agencies as the Director of Experiential Marketing. Prior to agency life, Daniel worked in the music touring industry. Most recently he toured with Beyoncé and Frank Ocean. Daniel is a native Californian and a music and iced coffee enthusiast. He spends his down time at home with his wife and puppy and drinking IPAs with friends.

Sana Islam

Finance Specialist

Sana is a graduate from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. After college, Sana worked at the New York City Office of the Comptroller as an Auditor where one of her audit reports made it to the New York Post! When Sana’s not making Magnetic a better place by managing and organizing all the finances as an accounting assistant she’s helping make the world a better place by volunteering at the Marine Park Nature Center in Brooklyn.

Sarah Springborn

Producer

Sarah has spent the past five years working on events and special projects in the big apple for Nike, Disney, Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group, Google and more. She’s even worked with the pop group *NSYNC. When she’s not producing amazing activations, she can be found obsessing over boutique fitness classes and drinking cold brew coffee year-round!

Mia Gordon

Production Manager

A former Magnetic intern and Detroit native, Mia Gordon is one of our lost sheep returned home. Not that she was lost really. After her internship she was pretty darn busy, finishing up her degree at Michigan State, working in the Google Creative Lab, and managing eCommerce, CRM, in-store signage and visual merchandising for big name brands like Kiehl’s, The Body Shop and Lancome. We’re glad she’s back. And though she won’t admit it, she’s glad to be out of Detroit.

Preeti Jain

Graphic Designer

Preeti started her career in her native India where she pursued her bachelor of fine arts in advertising and worked as a visualizer for Ogilvy Mumbai. After moving to the U.S., she received her masters of science in communication design from Pratt in NYC. Preeti has developed her expertise in answering design challenges by creating meaningful, thought provoking solutions that make you think – about social impact, sustainable development, and more. When she’s not saving the day with her impactful design, she can be found perfecting her photography craft or on the back of her husband’s motorcycle cruising through the streets of New Jersey.

Annie Bleisnick

Senior Business Lead

Annie lists her top passions as dive-y jazz bars, her cat Guacamole, and working in experiential/creative marketing. After years of exercising her brilliance on the West Coast, she finally made it back to New York to join Magnetic, where she wows us every day with her exuberating and bubbly personality.

Anna Dorfman

Business Relations Manager

Anna is a seasoned PR professional – an “agency kid” at heart – with six years of experience working with beauty, health and wellness brands. She has managed clients large and small, ranging from Fortune 500 companies like Bayer and Merck, to smaller brands like CeraVe and Carmex, to non-profits such as Susan G. Komen. A natural storyteller with a passion for industry trends and consumer dynamics, she lives for curating memorable brand experiences. In her spare time, Anna is on a mission to eat her way through NYC (and beyond).

Jillian Barkley

Graphic Designer

Jillian is a graphic designer and digital artist living in Brooklyn, NY. She recently completed her masters degree in Communications Design at Pratt Institute. She is the proud owner of a cross-eyed cat, and regularly overindulges in Mexican food, houseplants, and Michael Jackson.

Melissa Walters

Senior Graphic Designer

Melissa grew up in upstate New York and then headed to the small state of Delaware for school to study Visual Communications. She got her start in publishing before freelancing on a wide variety of projects and teams… which, fortunately for us, led her here! Melissa is an avid Olympics fan as she was a competitive gymnast for 12 years, and is a coffee and crossword puzzle enthusiast!

Trent Myers

Business Lead

Trent learned to scuba dive before he learned long division. He’s a fitness junky that brings that same energy to every project. He’s worked on activations for brands like Nike, Nintendo and the NBA. He once rode a bike through the Florida Keys for six hours, which resulted in a sunburn for four months.

Sheila Bermel

Executive Producer

Sheila joins Magnetic with loads of production experience, which is proven by her passion for 10-city tours, product launches, branded environments, or really any complex experiential concept coming to life. Whatever it is, she makes it all happen and somehow keeps her cool. As an avid golfer, Sheila tries to infuse the ‘way of golf’ into her work – one challenging shot at a time and is always keeping score. Her highlight moment was a hole-in-one and hitting the 17th green at TPC Sawgrass.

Anthony Clarizio

Studio Supervisor

We wanted to say that Anthony is a ‘highly creative graphic designer.’ But he hated that and said it was generic and patronizing. Which kind of sums up Anthony’s passion for pushing his work into new uncharted and authentic territories. So we’ll just say he specializes in the development, and implementation of environmental and experiential branding solutions. Although he may want to change that too.

Emily Knuth

Business Lead

Emily grew up in a small beach town in Southwest Michigan, then moved down to Alabama to attend and play volleyball at Auburn University. When she isn’t busy being a superior athlete or a killer Business Lead, she’s probably making balloon animals, learning how to play the Ukulele, or hanging out with her 6 year-old chocolate lab/pit mix, Charlie.

Joseph “JJ” Jones

Technical Production Specialist

JJ came into this world for two things: To manage projects and eat dessert. He first cut his teeth on concrete and steel in the construction game as a bad ass Project Manager, before cutting his sweet tooth on a salted caramel apple pie from a Brooklyn bakery. JJ produces anything and everything for his clients, making the seemingly impossible, possible. With a deep understanding of construction, technology, electrical and pastry eating, JJ brings a unique spark, and taste, to Magnetic.

Patrick Maranzino

Production Detailer and Technical Designer

When you have a lifetime of experience in construction and a passion for finish carpentry, and wood working, you don’t normally end up working at a brand marketing agency in New York City. But that’s just where Patrick has found himself, and it’s a good thing for us too. Patrick’s unique ability to integrate these elements of craftsmanship into functional design has proved invaluable for us in constructing a myriad of spectacles for our clients.

Kimberly Kulka

Creative Director

Kim is originally from the San Fransisco Bay Area. She went to undergrad at California College of the Arts for Interior Design, and Pratt for grad school where she studied Industrial Design. Before coming to Magnetic, Kim worked at Deutsch LA where she was working on brands like Target, Pandora, and 7-Eleven. Throughout her career she also worked with BMW, Nike, Asics, Oakley, Beats by Dre, and The Museum of Sex. Outside of work Kim likes flea markets, rap music, and sewing.

Amanda Lee

Environmental Designer

Born in Canada but raised in Texas, Amanda has an undergraduate degree in interior design and a graduate degree in industrial design. When she’s not blowing us away with her design skills she can be found eating any food put in front of her, being super competitive with all sports and even board games or doing a total flip and enjoying zen time doing pilates and yoga.

Scott Shiba

Technical Production Specialist

Scott Shiba is equal parts producer and technician. A proud dropout of the traditional school of events and marketing, his specialty is creative execution of complex one-of-a-kind projects. When he isn’t working in production, Scott enjoys photography, ultra distance running, and communicating via emoji.

Liv Hauck

Business Lead

Liv’s combination of unlikely talents, personas and pursuits position her to be a great business lead for our team. She has an undergrad in opera, is hooked on rock and roll, uses phrases like “wicked awesome”, loves hiking, singing jazz standards and hunting the city for the most delicious donut. When she’s not pursuing her crazy list of passions, she can be found leveraging her experience managing 600-person meet and greets for pop stars- which has positioned her perfectly to work on our crazy activations.

Debbie Yeh

Art Director

Debbie hails from Maryland, but now lucky for us has transplanted to NYC. Before coming here, she studied architecture in LA and advertising in San Francisco. She recently bought a midi controller in pursuit of starting a synth-pop band. She likes to binge-watch terrible shows and read terribly amazing sci-fi novels.

Faye Wood

Producer EMEA

Faye has a background in large-scale conferences and events in the Technology and Financial Sector. Over the past 6 years Faye has worked across Europe and the Middle East, which is where she grew up. When she isn’t traveling for work, she enjoys watching her local rugby team Harlequins and taking out Henry her Cocker Spaniel, Henry (who’s named after a UK hoover company) out for long walks.

Darby Nelson

Executive Business Lead

Darby is a born and raised New Yorker (although her kindness and colorful wardrobe might make you doubt that). Having worked on accounts from luxury car to sportswear to retailers, she can handle all different kinds of experiences. Oh, and she runs arcade claw games like she’s in Toy Story.

Ilana Avergun

Associate Business Lead

Before Magnetic, Ilana worked as the Director of Client Services, Events & Promotions for Redskins Radio for two seasons and afterwards completed a Masters Certificate in Event Management at GWU. She grew up on Long Island but she lived in Maryland since she was 11. She’s obsessed with French Bulldogs and knows the first 50 digits of pi by heart.

Dan Haxel

Producer

Originally from Quincy, Illinois, Dan attended Depaul University in Chicago. He has more than nine years of experiential marketing experience after getting his start on mobile tours all over the U.S. In his free time he enjoys paddle boarding, St. Louis Cardinals baseball and attempting to long board.

Louise Johnson

Business Lead

Louise is a born and raised New York City girl but loves a good Montana summer. She comes to us from a strategy start-up where she was a Jane of all trades. When she’s not in the office, you can find her on the soccer field or starting her own 4-star restaurant in her kitchen.

Paige Solomon

Strategist

Born and raised in Miami, strategist Paige Solomon once worked on the set of Hunger Games in the hair department, making all the cool wigs. She’s also called San Francisco, Atlanta, Napa and LA home but now she’s settled in NYC and bringing her cool ideas with her each and every day. When she’s not in the trenches with the strategy department you can find her refinishing and reupholstering furniture.

Sam Friedman

Business Lead

Sam comes to Magnetic from American Express where he focused on customer retention marketing. Prior to Amex, he worked as an account manager for the content marketing agency Group SJR. He was born in Detroit, raised in Southern California, Outside of work, you can find him on the East River running or out eating. He usually has headphones on listening to the radio – KEXP for the morning show and KCRW in the afternoon.

Sharlyna Wolfsheimer

Business Lead

Sharlyna is from a large international family and enjoys the globetrotting that comes along with it. She has worked on many exciting brand activations, ranging from experimental to brand films and expeditions. One of the most exciting was being part of the ‘Project Speedbird’ team, breaking the Channel Crossing World Speed Record. She is passionate about her work and with a keen eye for the finest details, creates truly inspiring events. In her spare time she can be found reading, cycling around London on the search for great new spots, or keeping up to date with her favourite TV shows.

Ali Gardiner

Executive Business Lead

Ali got her start at an event agency called First Protocol where she worked on the Goldman Sachs, Super Bowl Host Committee and Pepsi accounts. From there she joined CIVIC Entertainment Group where she was the account manager for NBC Sports working on projects around The Kentucky Derby, NASCAR, NHL Playoffs, Thursday Night Football and Premier League. As a former collegiate and professional athlete, to say she is competitive is an understatement. Although growing up in Westchester, NY she ended up following her fathers footsteps down south and went to school at the University of Florida. She loves big puppies, sunflowers and anything Florida Gators.

Tamsin Dodd

Senior Business Lead

After a background in television, Tamsin found her niche in events and for over 10 years has been working for brands from Emirates and Diageo to London Fashion Week, The Prince’s Trust, Sony PlayStation, BFI London Film Festival and FIFA. Passionate about people, all things creative and bringing ideas and experiences to life, she’s also a keen traveller with a stint living in one of her favorite places; Japan and working on events around the globe. A bit of a chocoholic and a country girl at heart, at weekends she’s mostly found swapping the city lights for long dog walks (with a canine called Dave), and muddy fields!

Lia Racanelli

Creative Lead/Strategist

Lia is from a small town in Virginia where she later went on to graduate from the University of Georgia. She has experience working in marketing and experiential design for companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Cartoon Network, & Accenture. Outside of the office, you can find Lia touring as a musician, performing all over the east coast to the midwest. While not on the road, Lia is improving her Italian through lessons and shamelessly obsessing over Bloody Marys, Christina Aguilera and Crime TV.

Julien Noguera

Graphic Designer

Julien comes all the way from France where he earned a Bachelor Degree in Graphic Design at school in Paris. He worked in advertising there until he got his Masters in Communications at Pratt Institute while also being a Teaching Assistant here in NYC. His passion for storytelling and user experience paved the way for joining the experiential world. Don’t pay too much attention to his age, as his grey hair confers great wisdom upon him.

Tiffani Harris

Producer

Tiffani comes to us after years of freelance producing, and we’re lucky she landed herself at Magnetic! When she’s not in the office, she can be found in flea markets, thrift stores or at the rodeo. (She won her first buckle in Barrel Racing at the age of 3, thanks to her professional bull-riding dad!)

Laura Volgenau

Associate Producer

Before coming to Magnetic, Laura worked for a small experiential agency called TANTRUM and produced brand activations for many luxury car brands including Ferrari and Maserati. She hails from Connecticut but have lived in New York for three years. When she’s not at the office, you can find her playing volleyball, trying new places to eat in New York, and traveling. A wacky fun fact about her is that she’s obsessed with nerdy board games!

Emily Serwer

Associate Business Lead

Emily just graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in Psychology and History, bringing her analytic brain as she joins the agency world post-schooling. Having spent time in consulting and in branding at a major tech company, Emily enjoys both the creative and business strategic elements of her position. When outside of the office, she spends 99.9% of her time focusing on the three major Fs: fashion, fitness, and food. These loves can be largely attributed to one of her defining characteristics, her New York City upbringing.

The Team

Here are the people in your neighborhood. Well, no. They’re Magnetic employees. Although, it's possible one or more of them might live in your neighborhood. You just never know.

Brian

Founding Partner, Chief Experience Officer

Richard

Founding Partner, Chief Operations Officer

Glenn

Founding Partner, Chief Design Officer

Jessica

Managing Director

Gary

Chief Strategy Officer

Donna

Director of Production

Emma

Business Director

Sonia

Business Director

Doug

Director of Business Development

Hall

Business Director

Andrew

Business Director EMEA

Deborah

Finance Supervisor

Patti

Finance Director

Steve

Operations Supervisor

Daniel

Business Director

Sana

Finance Specialist

Sarah

Producer

Mia

Production Manager

Preeti

Graphic Designer

Annie

Senior Business Lead

Anna

Business Relations Manager

Jillian

Graphic Designer

Melissa

Senior Graphic Designer

Trent

Business Lead

Sheila

Executive Producer

Anthony

Studio Supervisor

Emily

Business Lead

Joseph

Technical Production Specialist

Patrick

Production Detailer and Technical Designer

Kimberly

Creative Director

Amanda

Environmental Designer

Scott

Technical Production Specialist

Liv

Business Lead

Debbie

Art Director

Faye

Producer EMEA

Darby

Executive Business Lead

Ilana

Associate Business Lead

Dan

Producer

Louise

Business Lead

Paige

Strategist

Sam

Business Lead

Sharlyna

Business Lead

Ali

Executive Business Lead

Tamsin

Senior Business Lead

Lia

Creative Lead/Strategist

Julien

Graphic Designer

Tiffani

Producer

Laura

Associate Producer

Emily

Associate Business Lead

Interactivity

Everyone has a specialty. For some, it’s a 95 mph exploding slider. For others, a lovely crab and cheddar soufflé. For us, it's interactive tech displays. We love using the most complicated and cutting edge display technology to create simple, fun and engaging experiences for customers. Like when we paired Microsoft Kinect with a giant billboard in Times Square to let people play video games on the biggest possible stage.

Technical Production

PR Driven Stunts + Experiences

Internal + External Conferences

Exhibitory Design + Fabrication

Retail Design

Video / Digital Production

Experiential Strategy

Interactive Technology Displays

Social Media Visualization

Experience Technology

Live Stream Experiences

The Details

While we're great at making large spectaculars come to life, we also spend a great amount of effort focusing on the details that make an event great.

In The Wild

When Magnetic staff are released into the world, strange and wonderful things can and usually do happen. You can see them here.